Honestly though, I am not a huge Hockey fan, hell I dont even understand half the rules and none of the strategy (besides obviously puck in goal), but I really enjoy watching the Stanley Cup this year. I am torn though, being a Toledo born kid I always followed from a distance, the Redwings, but I dont find it as fun to watch the rich get richer in hockey. Its like rooting for the Yanks. However I also cant really get behind a Pittsburgh team and a town who could have 2 of the 4 major championships at one time. I think I am going to just sit back and enjoy.

Someone tell me this. Do they run plays in hockey? And if so how the hell does it get setup, it all looks like chaos to me.

Give me a dummies break down of the strategy and intracacy of the game, I dont get it. To me it almost seems like goals are as much luck as they are skill.

One of my friends here is a 'Burgh native and would enjoy watching the game. I don't follow hockey so can't hate on the Pens. I actually want them to win because I entered my sister's playoff pool and will win over a bunch of hockey nuts if Pitt wins.

Thought it might be fun to find a place where everyone wants the Pens to win. At least I can live vicariously through someone else's team!

Honestly though, I am not a huge Hockey fan, hell I dont even understand half the rules and none of the strategy (besides obviously puck in goal), but I really enjoy watching the Stanley Cup this year. I am torn though, being a Toledo born kid I always followed from a distance, the Redwings, but I dont find it as fun to watch the rich get richer in hockey. Its like rooting for the Yanks. However I also cant really get behind a Pittsburgh team and a town who could have 2 of the 4 major championships at one time. I think I am going to just sit back and enjoy.

Someone tell me this. Do they run plays in hockey? And if so how the hell does it get setup, it all looks like chaos to me.

Give me a dummies break down of the strategy and intracacy of the game, I dont get it. To me it almost seems like goals are as much luck as they are skill.

There are set plays in hockey Z. There are formations, for lack of a better word. Take, for example, what's called a forecheck. When one team shoots the puck into the zone, they set up a forecheck to try and get the puck back/force a turnover. Some teams play a left wing lock. Some teams play a 1-2-2. Some teams play a more aggressive forecheck, others more passive.

There are also formations on special teams, powerplay and penalty kill. There are two common formations, the umbrella and the overload. The umbrella is named for its shape. One guy at the top, near the blue line. Two on the side of him, closer to the net, and then one in front of the crease and one below the goal line. The overload has two guys on the points, or at defense, one guy in front, one guy behind the net, and one guy along the boards on the strong side (where the puck is).

The penalty kill formations are an aggressive box, passive box, diamond, or triangle and one. The boxes are as they sound. Four guys in the shape of a box. An aggressive has guys pressure the puck. In the passive, they wait back in the passing and shooting lanes looking for blocked shots or interceptions so they can clear the puck out of the zone. A diamond is another form of the passive box (usually). A triangle and one is a triangle with one guy chasing the puck around the zone and the other three collapsing back into a triangle.

Set plays come in on powerplays or faceoffs mostly. Such as the defenseman cheating toward the net on the powerplay or a guy winning a faceoff towards the net rather than more conventionally, back to his defenseman.

Goals aren't dumb luck. More often than not, they are the result of hard work. Precision passing helps. Think of it like a cover 2. Every man has a zone and a responsibility (opposing player). They have assignments. When guys blow their assignments, that's when goals happen. It's all about finding open ice and making the right decision. Hockey, more so than any sport, is a team game. If one guy gets out of position, it forces another guy out of position, and so on. Everybody has to cover their responsibilities. When they don't, these world-class players take advantage of it and produce goals.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

Honestly though, I am not a huge Hockey fan, hell I dont even understand half the rules and none of the strategy (besides obviously puck in goal), but I really enjoy watching the Stanley Cup this year. I am torn though, being a Toledo born kid I always followed from a distance, the Redwings, but I dont find it as fun to watch the rich get richer in hockey. Its like rooting for the Yanks. However I also cant really get behind a Pittsburgh team and a town who could have 2 of the 4 major championships at one time. I think I am going to just sit back and enjoy.

Someone tell me this. Do they run plays in hockey? And if so how the hell does it get setup, it all looks like chaos to me.

Give me a dummies break down of the strategy and intracacy of the game, I dont get it. To me it almost seems like goals are as much luck as they are skill.

There are set plays in hockey Z. There are formations, for lack of a better word. Take, for example, what's called a forecheck. When one team shoots the puck into the zone, they set up a forecheck to try and get the puck back/force a turnover. Some teams play a left wing lock. Some teams play a 1-2-2. Some teams play a more aggressive forecheck, others more passive.

There are also formations on special teams, powerplay and penalty kill. There are two common formations, the umbrella and the overload. The umbrella is named for its shape. One guy at the top, near the blue line. Two on the side of him, closer to the net, and then one in front of the crease and one below the goal line. The overload has two guys on the points, or at defense, one guy in front, one guy behind the net, and one guy along the boards on the strong side (where the puck is).

The penalty kill formations are an aggressive box, passive box, diamond, or triangle and one. The boxes are as they sound. Four guys in the shape of a box. An aggressive has guys pressure the puck. In the passive, they wait back in the passing and shooting lanes looking for blocked shots or interceptions so they can clear the puck out of the zone. A diamond is another form of the passive box (usually). A triangle and one is a triangle with one guy chasing the puck around the zone and the other three collapsing back into a triangle.

Set plays come in on powerplays or faceoffs mostly. Such as the defenseman cheating toward the net on the powerplay or a guy winning a faceoff towards the net rather than more conventionally, back to his defenseman.

Goals aren't dumb luck. More often than not, they are the result of hard work. Precision passing helps. Think of it like a cover 2. Every man has a zone and a responsibility (opposing player). They have assignments. When guys blow their assignments, that's when goals happen. It's all about finding open ice and making the right decision. Hockey, more so than any sport, is a team game. If one guy gets out of position, it forces another guy out of position, and so on. Everybody has to cover their responsibilities. When they don't, these world-class players take advantage of it and produce goals.

Thanks, I have never been a huge hockey fan because I dont appreciate the complexity. Perhaps I will do some more research and try to pick a few things out....or I will just sit back and enjoy with some adult beverage. What I need to do is watch a game with someone who knows wtf is going because all I see is chaos.

And i didnt mean to imply it was all luck when they score, but it seems that no matter how good a shot is, if the goalie guesses (at least seems to guess) correctly he can stop it. Similiar to a great shot blocker in the NBA. If they time everything correctly they can block a ton of shots. ya know?

Ziner wrote:Thanks, I have never been a huge hockey fan because I dont appreciate the complexity. Perhaps I will do some more research and try to pick a few things out....or I will just sit back and enjoy with some adult beverage. What I need to do is watch a game with someone who knows wtf is going because all I see is chaos.

And i didnt mean to imply it was all luck when they score, but it seems that no matter how good a shot is, if the goalie guesses (at least seems to guess) correctly he can stop it. Similiar to a great shot blocker in the NBA. If they time everything correctly they can block a ton of shots. ya know?

You're out in a cold climate now, you better figure hockey out in a hurry.

Anyway, the goalies don't normally guess. It's all about positioning. There's a thing called "challenging" a shooter. Coming out to the edge of the blue paint (crease) makes a goaltender look bigger and give the shooter less net to shoot at. If a goaltender is in the right position, even through traffic, he has a good chance at making the save.

Where goaltenders make their money is rebound control. A lot of goals are scored on rebounds when the goalie can't absorb the puck or direct it to non-traffic areas, like the corners along the boards.

It's actually a pretty simple game once you start watching it and paying attention to it. The analysts, for the most part, are good at describing it to the casual fan.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

Skating Tripods wrote:You're out in a cold climate now, you better figure hockey out in a hurry.

Cold? ha that is the dirty little secret that no one really knows about unless you live here. People say in the winter they usually dont break out a heavy jacket unless they are skiing and then still sometimes you dont. The weather is insane... and what looks like 35 on the forecast feels like 50 because it is so dry and i guess the elevation. It was 22 degrees when we were here looking for apts and we drove around with the windows down because the sun is so damn hot.

Hockey looks like chaos on TV because there's no good and easy way to broadcast it. It's a lot easier to pick out plays and formations and such in person than it is on TV. Go to a game with someone who knows it well and they can explain it.

As for finding a place in Cleveland to watch it, good luck. I'm watching it in Texas with a group of Stars fans (and one Avs fan) masquerading as Penguins fans. Hopefully I'll be making Evgeni Malkin's mom's red borscht. She made it for Geno before the game he had the hat trick in against Washington. I just need a Qdoba ancho pork burrito to go with it, but we don't have Qdoba anywhere near here.

Although, pizza may be the way to go. In the three games I watched with them, we had pizza each time. Two were games the Pens won (pizza from Double Dave's, a local chain), one was the 5-0 loss (Pizza Hut). I think DD's will win out over the soup.